Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall (Born ''Richard Michael Mayall ''March 7th, 1958 - passed away June 9th, 2014) was the world's famed English comedian, writer and actor. Mayall was one of the voice actors alongside Matt Lucas who voiced Merlin, Phil Cornwell and Morwenna Banks in the series [[King Arthur's Disasters|''King Arthur's Disasters]], ''he was the voice of King Arthur, the main protagonist who is sent to accomplish ridiculously pointless quests to marry Princess Guinevere but his efforts end in vain. Biography He was born at 98 Pittmans Field in Harlow, Essex to Gillian (1930-2018) and John Mayall (1925-2011). He was one of the 4 children. At the age of 3, he and his parents who taught drama moved to Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire where he spent his childhood in his parents' plays He went to King's School where he obtained a free scholarship and flunked most of his O-levels and scraped through A-levels. In 1975, He went to Manchester University to study drama, after graduation, he met his future comedy partner Ade Edmondson, Ben Elton, his fellow classmate and Lise Mayer, with whom he co-wrote and starred in ''The Young Ones. on 7 March 1958 at 98 Pittmans Field in Harlow, Essex2 to Gillian (née Harrild; 1930–2018) and John Mayall (1925–2011).[citation needed] He had an older brother, Anthony, and two younger sisters, Libby and Kate.3 When Mayall was three years old, he and his parents—who taught drama—moved to Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire,4 where he spent the rest of his childhood and performed in his parents' plays.5 He attended King's School, Worcester, where he obtained a free scholarship and failed most of his O-levels and scraped through A-levels.6 In 1975, Mayall went to the University of Manchester to study drama. He has claimed that he failed his degree, or that he did not even turn up to his finals7 but in reality he graduated with lower second-class honours in 1978.8 He met his future comedy partner Ade Edmondson,9 Ben Elton, a fellow student, and Lise Mayer, with whom he later co-wrote The Young Ones. He and Edmondson gained their reputation at The Comedy Store, from 1980. Apart from performing in their double act, 20th Century Coyote, Mayall developed solo routines, using characters such as Kevin Turvey and a pompous anarchist poet named Rick. This led to them, along with Comedy Store compere Alexei Sayle and other upcoming comedians, including Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, French and Saunders, Arnold Brown and Pete Richens, setting up their own comedy club called The Comic Strip. Mayall's television appearances as Kevin Turvey led to a mockumentary based on the character titled Kevin Turvey – The Man Behind The Green Door, broadcast in 1982. The previous year, he appeared in a bit role in An American Werewolf in London. His stage partnership with Edmondson continued, with them often appearing together as "The Dangerous Brothers", hapless daredevils whose hyper-violent antics foreshadowed their characters in Bottom. He continued to work on The Comic Strip films. He returned to stand-up comedy, performing on Saturday Live—a British version of the American Saturday Night Live—first broadcast in 1985. He and Edmondson had a regular section as "The Dangerous Brothers", their earlier stage act. In 1985, Mayall debuted another comic creation. He had appeared in the final episode of the first series of (1983) as "Mad Gerald". He returned to play Lord Flashheart in the Blackadder II episode titled "Bells". A descendant of this character, Squadron Commander Flashheart, was in the Blackadder Goes Forth episode "Private Plane". In the same episode, he was reunited with Edmondson, who played German flying ace Baron von Richthofen the "Red Baron", in a scene where he comes to rescue Captain Blackadder from the Germans. A decade later, Mayall also appeared in Blackadder: Back & Forth as Robin Hood. In 1991, They co-starred in the West End production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Queen's Theatre, with Mayall playing Vladimir, Edmondson as Estragon and Christopher Ryan as Lucky. His film credits included small roles in ''Blackadder ''as Flashheart and Robin Hood, ''Drop Dead Fred, Guest House Paradiso. In 1998 April 9th, Mayall was injured from crashing his bike near his Devon home. On June 9th, 2014 after jogging he died of a heart attack aged 56. He was survived by his wife Barbara Robbin, and his 3 children. On June 19th, 2014 in St George's Church in Dittisham. People attended his funeral, including his Co-stars. His body was interred on his family farm in Devon. Category:Voice actors Category:1958 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Deaths from heart attacks Category:Deceased persons